25 killed in prison clashes near Sri Lanka's capital

At least 25 people were killed and more than 100 injured in clashes at Negombo prison, just 35 kilometers north of Colombo, turning a local disturbance into a stark test of Sri Lanka’s prison system. The unrest began on July 5 and flared again on July 6, with police, prison officials and television reports giving rapidly changing casualty counts as authorities struggled to regain control.

The Prison Department said Sunday’s fighting left two inmates dead and 38 others injured, while later reports put the toll much higher. Hiru News said police reported 25 dead, including prison officers, after renewed unrest and said the Police Special Task Force entered the prison to restore order. News 1st later reported fresh rioting on Monday left two prison officers and one other person dead, while 32 inmates were being treated at Negombo Hospital, nearly 20 had undergone surgery, three serious cases were transferred to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo, and four inmates were hurt when a prison roof collapsed during a protest.

The cause of the violence was still being pinned down, but later reporting pointed to rival inmate groups, including accounts that described the conflict as one between convicted prisoners and remand detainees and others that said it involved rival drug gangs. The Prison Department of Sri Lanka said a special investigation team had been appointed on the instructions of the Commissioner General of Prisons, while a separate police investigation was opened and a magisterial inquiry was held. Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara called for a detailed report on the clashes.

The scale of the bloodshed has intensified scrutiny of conditions inside Negombo prison and across the island’s detention system. One report said the prison held more than 1,800 inmates, while others said it held several thousand. Official figures cited by multiple outlets put Sri Lanka’s prison population at 41,250 as of July 5, about four times official capacity, a level of crowding that leaves little margin for disorder, weak staffing or delayed intervention.

The crisis also revived memories of the December 2020 riot at Mahara Prison near Colombo, where 11 inmates were killed and 117 wounded during the COVID-19 pandemic. That episode led the government to release hundreds of prisoners from overcrowded jails, but the latest violence suggests the underlying pressures inside Sri Lanka’s prisons have not been resolved. Authorities now face questions not just about who started the fighting, but about how a prison so close to the capital again reached the point where deaths mounted before control was restored.